New Midnight
by Dess Greene
Summary: Dess left Bixby with the intention of finding new Midnighters. What happens when she finds one? DessxOC, DessxMelissa
1. Accepted

A/N: This was originally going to have three-part chapters, which is why this first chapter is so short. Read and Review.

"Desdemona? Do you care to explain this?"

Dess looked up through her soldering goggles at her parents, who stood just outside her door. Her mother had an open letter in her hand, and her father looked as if a blood vessel in his brain had burst. Sighing, she set down her soldering gun and Nitroglycerin, an old bicycle wheel rim that she was weaponizing.

"What?" she asked, even though she already knew.

Dess's mother held out the letter. Dess crossed her room slowly and took it. As she read it, a smile spread across her pale face.

"Well?" her mother asked.

"'Dear Miss Desdemona Hall,'" Dess read. "'We are pleased to inform you that your application for enrollment has been approved. Welcome to Brewster's Academy.'" Dess looked up at her parents. "Sounds pretty self-explanatory to me."

Dess's father exploded. "How do you expect us to send you to boarding school? You do the bills! You know what our money situation is! And you didn't even ask! What do you have to say for yourself, Desdemona?"

Dess went over to her desk and opened the top drawer. She pulled out a large parchment envelope and handed it to her mother.

"I got a scholarship. A _full_ scholarship," she added.

"it's in Virginia, Desdemona," her mother said. By the sound of her voice, Dess knew she was wearing them down.

"I know, Mom," she said. "But since Jessica disappeared, and Melissa left, I haven't really had any friends. It's been almost a year. I need a new start. _Please._"

She had them. They would leave, pretend to talk about it, then come back in two hours and tell her yes. But, of course, Dess couldn't let them know that she knew that she had won. Working up tears, she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and clasped her hands together.

After a few moments, her dad broke. "All right, Desdemona. Your mother and I will talk about this." And with that, they left.

Dess smiled and turned to Ada, who was spinning in a perfect circle. "We're in."


	2. Roommate

Dess stared at the number on the door in horror. At first, she thought that the admissions office had made a mistake, but no: There was her name on a plaque next to the door, just under her roommate's.

Desdemona Hall, Room 1224.

Taking a deep, panicky breath, she opened the door and stepped inside.

One side of the room was already decorated, indicating that her roommate, Juliet Haddox, had been here for a while. Rolling her eyes at the fuzzy pink throw pillows, Dess heaved her bags onto her bed.

An hour and a half later, the small dorm room (12x12, Dess had noted) had been totally Darkling-proofed. 39 paperclips were placed above the door; 39 thumbtacks pushed into the bottom of the window sill; Resplendantly Scintillating Illustrations and Geometrically Biodegradable Nitroglycerin (the bike rim) lay within easy reach under her bed. She had even given the heater vent under Juliet's bed a name (Overzealously Noninfectious Neurotoxicity).

All in all, a job well done. Now it was time to unpack.

She had just pulled Ada out of her duffel bag when the door opened. Dess, ignoring the intrusion, reached into the metalic guts of Ada's base and moved a few gears around. Then she wound Ada up, set her on the desk, and waited her move in a figure-eight pattern.

"Wow," came her roommate's high, breathy voice. "That is so wicked cool."

Dess spared a glance over her shoulder. Juliet Haddox looked exactly how Dess pictured her: tall, skinny, honey-blonde hair and large blue eyes. Although, there was one thing about her that made Dess's stomach fall to the floor: Juliet Haddox was wearing a black volleyball jersey with a large, white "12" on the front.

"Hi," Dess squeaked, still staring at the number. "I'm Dess..."

Juliet smiled. "Juliet. Wow, so you're the new brain. Cool." She moved and flopped down on her bed. "So, you're, like, super-smart, right?"

Dess, slightly recovered, could feel a migraine coming on. "Um, yeah. Mostly math, but I like physics, too. Why?"

"Because the hags in Admin forced me into Pre-Calc."

"Ah."

Dess turned around and continued to unpack. She had most of her clothes put away and was working on throwing her shoes under the bed when Juliet spoke.

"What does your shirt mean?"

Dess attempted to look over her shoulder to see the design, but failed miserably. This caused Juliet to giggle.

"It says 'Geometry can kiss my Angle-Side-Side.'"

"Geometry can kiss my ass," Dess translated. "It's a play on terms."

"Oh." Dess took immense satisfaction in the confusion in Juliet's voice.

After another ten minutes, everything was done. She hadn't brought any pictures or posters to hang up, and she didn't have anything special to put on her bed besides the ratty grey blanket she'd had since she was eleven. She had to admit, it didn't even look like Juliet _had _a roommate. She would have to fix that over the weekend.

"Um...I guess I'm gonna go look around campus," Dess said. She put on her sunglasses, checked that Geostationary was in the pocket of her cargo pants, and left without waiting for a reply from Juliet.


	3. Building

A/N: Yes, I know, another shorty...Please, don't shoot me...Also, thanks to RossxRachel4ever for the kind reviews.

The heels of Dess's boots echoed dully in the marble foyer.

Brewster's Academy was only 76 years old, although the building itself was over 250 years old. It used to be a mansion, but was sold to the Brewster family in the late 1920's, following a horrible fire in the East Wing. The Brewster family spent four years renovating the building, then opened it as a school with emphasis on math and music.

The school had two wings that branched off of the main part of the building. The top four floors of the East Wing were used as the Girls' Dormatories, and the top four floors of the West Wing were used as the Boys' Dormatories. The bottom two floors of each wing were used as libraries. The main part itself housed the Headmaster's Office on the first floor, the cafeteria and kitchens on the second floor, and classrooms on the top four floors.

Dess had covered nearly every square inch of the campus, holding Geostationary so close to her face that it looked as if she was kissing the GPS device. She was going to have to call Rex and let him know that her new school was a definite P.B.T. She had just started to dig in her pockets for a quarter when she heard someone call her name.

"Ms. Hall?" The voice belonged to an older man.

Confused, Dess turned around and came face-to-chest with Kevin Brewster, Headmaster of the school.

"Mr. Brewster," Dess said, shoving Geostationary back into her pocket. She shook her short black hair out of her face and held out her hand. Brewster smiled at her and took her hand.

"We've been looking all over campus for you, Ms. Hall," Brewster said. He let go of Dess's hand and motioned behind him.

Dess peered around Brewster and saw four other students. They all stood seperately from eachother, and were all staring in different directions, as if they didn't want to look anyone in the eye.

All except for one.


	4. Meeting

Brewster led Dess and the other four students to his office. "A scholarship meeting," he called it.

When all five students had taken seats in front of Brewster's desk, Brewster himself sat down in his over-large leather chair and folded his hands primly on his desk.

"So," he started. "I would like all of you to introduce yourselves. That means your name, year, where you're from and which scholarship you received. Ms. Hall, why don't you start? We'll go to the left."

Dess licked her lips and nodded. "um, I'm Desdemona Hall. Dess for short. I'm a junior. Urm…I'm from Bixby, Oklahoma, and I have the math scholarship." Brewster nodded and looked to the boy on Dess's left.

He had short black hair that was parted on the left side. His skin was extremely pale, almost transparent. His large eyes were a shade of blue so dark they were almost black, and there were dark circles under them, as if he hadn't slept in weeks. He had on black slacks and a black turtleneck with a single white stripe down the sleeves. Sitting next to him, Dess suddenly felt trashy.

"My name is Tallyn McAllister," he said. "Junior, Newport, English scholarship."

His voice was soft, yet strong. Not deep, but not high, either. Actually, it was hard for Dess to describe, but for some reason, it sent chills up her spine…even though it wasn't cold.

And, he liked words.

Over the next ten minutes, the other three introduced themselves (Quinn, sophomore, Atlanta, art; Maive, freshman, New Orleans, science; and Orla, freshman, New Orleans, drama); Brewster talked appearance ("No uniforms, but you must look respectful"); and curfews ("In the building by 11:00, in your rooms by 12:00. But on the weekends, in the building by 12:00, in your rooms by 12:30").

The entire time, Dess was extremely aware of Tallyn sitting next to her. Every time she glanced over, he was looking at her. His blue-black eyes bore into hers, making her feel very uncomfortable…but at the same time, she loved it. It made her feel safe. She found herself looking at him time and time again.

And then he smiled at her.

This shocked her so much that she avoided his gaze for the rest of the meeting. Instead, she stared at the large, ugly painting that hung behind Brewster, chewing on her lip.

Several minutes later, Dess felt someone place their hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she found herself staring into Tallyn's eyes again. He smiled—not a big smile, he really only lifted one side of his mouth, but Dess was speechless nonetheless—and jerked his thumb towards the door.

"Meeting's over," he said quietly. "I was wondering if maybe…you wanted to get some lunch."

Dess opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Closing her mouth, and feeling like an idiot, she smiled and shook her head.

"Maybe some other time?" he asked.

Dess nodded, stood up, and left.


	5. Seer

Dess ran out of the office, still trying to figure out what had just happened. She ran to the Girls' Staircase, pausing at the bottom for a moment to watch as Tallyn McAllister walked outside. Sighing, Dess turned and continued up to her dorm. As she walked, her traitorous Polymath brain noted that Tallyn was precisely 6' 5" tall, exactly 1' 2" taller than she was.

She was still thinking about him when she walked into her room, but as soon as she saw Juliet, all unintelligent thoughts vanished from her mind. Juliet was sitting on her bed, buried in "Lord of the Flies." She was making a "reading-is-hard" face and was motioning towards Dess's bed.

There was a yellow Post-It note stuck to her headboard with the word "Rex" scrawled across it in eyeliner. Dess grabbed it and crumpled it up. Throwing it away, she turned towards Juliet. "Did he call?" Juliet nodded, and Dess left.

While heading back down to the foyer, Dess frantically searched her pockets. She finally found a quarter nestled in the corner of Geostationary's pocket. Dess shoved the coin into the slot of the payphone and quickly dialed Rex's number.

He answered on the fourth ring. "Dess?"

"I found one!" she said into the receiver. "I think…well, I _know_ he's a Seer."

"Are you sure, Dess? Absolutely sure?"

"Of course I am!" Dess nearly shouted. "You should have seen the way he was looking at me. It's the same way you were staring at Jessica on her first day. I would know that stare _anywhere_."

"Dess?" Rex sounded like he was about to burst her bubble.

"What? Do you not realize how excited I am about this? I found one—"

"Melissa's on her way. I got the call this morning. She'll know for sure, so don't say anything to him."

Dess was speechless. How _dare_ Melissa! This was Dess's place. Her very own place to explore and live and make discoveries. _My Seer,_ Dess thought. _Not hers._

"When?"

"She'll be there before midnight, but she wants to spend the whole blue time with you."

"What about Jonathon and Jessica?" _Please let them be coming with her,_ Dess thought.

"Melissa said they are going to be staying in the town about five miles away." Rex sounded slightly jealous. "She wants to be alone with you."

Dess felt all of her internal organs drop to the floor. _No._ "Whatever. Don't strain yourself with Maddy and the old man."

Forcing back a scream, Dess hung the phone up. She turned so that she was facing the doors, only to find Tallyn staring at her from across the courtyard.


	6. Visitor

Dess sat on her bed, waiting for 11:00 to roll around. She never could stand waiting; she always had to be working on something. But she had left her soldering gun at home, in Bixby.

_Home,_ she thought. She desperately missed her bed at that moment, even though she nearly always ended up on the floor. She also missed her stockpile of weapons. It had made her feel safe. She knew that no slithers would sneak into her room, only because of the stench of steel that emanated from her house.

Sighing, she looked at the pink, fuzzy clock that hung on Juliet's wall. 10:43 p.m. She really couldn't wait any longer. Grabbing her calf-length, black wool duster, she left the room, shutting and locking the door behind her. She knew that Juliet had her key, so she didn't worry about her ditzy roommate.

She pulled her coat on as she walked down to the front doors of Brewster's Academy, then out them. She knew that Melissa would wait in the parking lot of the school in Jonathon's trashy old car. God, Dess had missed that car. She missed a lot of thing at that moment.

A light breeze kicked up some prematurely fallen leaves at Dess's feet, making her smile. Despite all of the possible dangers once midnight rolled around, the place really was beautiful. She was going to have to take Melissa to the Fountain. She knew that the kooky Mindcaster would love it there.

Despite all of Dess's earlier misgivings, she really was excited about seeing Melissa again. She had even silently forgiven Melissa for mind-raping her two years earlier. Not that she would ever tell the Bitch Goddess. No, that would be Dess's own little secret.

A pair of headlights cut across the darkness, making Dess squint.

Pulling her coat tighter around her, Dess made her way around trees and benches to where the car was parked. Dess peered in through the passenger side window to see Melissa staring back at her, a small frown playing across her pale face. Her buzz cut had grown out, and now her dark hair stood in spikes all around her head. Dess thought it looked good on her.

"Hey, dork," Melissa said, leaning across and unlocking the door. "Get in."

Dess opened the door and climbed in. As she put on her seatbelt, she could feel the familiar buzz in her head that let her know that Melissa was rummaging around. She smirked and thought about the numbers in pi to piss of the Bitch Goddess. As she had predicted, it worked: Melissa continued for a few seconds more, then snorted and started the car.

"So, I see you've dropped the Goth look," she said to Dess as she sped off campus. "You look better in normal clothes."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but no," Dess replied. "It's just that these are much more comfortable on a long-ass bus ride than some long black dress. But thank you."

Melissa didn't say anything, but just stared ahead into the inky blackness that surrounded the car. It seemed as if she were thinking of something to say, a conversation starter, perhaps, but Dess knew that it would be much more complex than that. Who knew what Melissa had scavenged from Dess's head before getting shut out?

Suddenly, the car was filled with a blinding light as someone brighted them from behind. Melissa let out a steady string of swear words as she sped up, trying to outrun them. Dess, unthinkingly, unhooked her seatbelt and turned around to get a look at the idiot behind them. Suddenly, Melissa slammed on the breaks and turned right, onto the shoulder of the road. Dess was thrown into the dashboard, and hit her head on the windshield, cracking it.

"Shit," Melissa said, turning the car off. "Dess, are you okay?"

Groaning, Dess picked herself up from the floor of the car and nodded. "My head fucking hurts, but I'm fine." She reached back and felt the large goose-egg that was already forming. When she brought her hand back around to her face, she saw that it was wet with blood. "Fuck," she said again.

Both Dess and Melissa looked around to the road, where taillights were fading into the distance.

"Who do you think it was," Melissa asked. She really did look shaken by the whole thing, Dess thought. Maybe it was too much of a reminder of the night that rex had been kidnapped. But, then again, maybe Dess was reading way too much into Melissa's reaction.

"I don't know. I don't know anybody except my roommate, and she's too pepped up to be driving like a psycho and running people off the road."

Melissa looked Dess in the eyes. The buzzing was back, and this time, Dess was too disoriented to fight back. "Who's Tallyn?" Melissa asked after a moment.

Dess shrugged. "Just some guy I met. He asked me out to lunch."

"You think he could be one of us…another Midnighter?"

Dess nodded. "Another Seer. Unless I was just missing Rex's particular brand of friendliness. Which I really hope not, because Rex isn't really all that friendly."

"Well, it's 11:30. If there is another Midnighter around here, we'll know for sure in thirty minutes," Melissa said, tapping her temple. "For the meantime, let's not drive anywhere, unless our little friend decides to come back."

Dess nodded again and sat back in the seat, mentally preparing herself for an hour and a half, give or take, alone with the Bitch Goddess.


	7. Mindcaster

The blue time.

It rolls across the country like sunrise, dotted with shadowesque weak spots. Birds stop flying, fish stop swimming, people stop thinking.

Dess smiled. It had always seemed to her that her Polymath skills always seemed to increase during the secret hour. Which may have been true, but ever since Rex had gone all schizo when it came to anything remotely civilized, she couldn't really ask him to analyze her powers.

She looked over to Melissa. The Mindcaster's eyes were closed, but Dess knew she wasn't asleep. She was Casting, searching for Jonathan and Jessica, and, possibly, Tallyn.

"No," Melissa whispered. "It…NO!"

Dess leaned over Melissa and hesitantly touched her shoulder. "Melissa? Did you find him?"

Melissa's hazel eyes fluttered open. "No," she said. She raised her hand up to Dess's, and then pulled both down onto her lap. "But we're alone here. The rift doesn't reach into town. I can't feel Jessica at all. Unless we want to wait for a Darkling to find us, we should head back to the school."

Dess stared. Obviously, Melissa had learned to speak out in the year that she had been gone. And, she was still holding Dess's hand.

"Let's get going," Dess said, pulling her hand away. "I've got a steel pipe that I liberated from my roommate's bed. It should provide adequate protection."

She opened the car door and got out. There was a dull throbbing where her head had hit the windshield. She reached back and gingerly touched it. Yep, it still hurt.

Melissa had gotten out, too, and had popped the trunk. She was digging around, apparently looking for something. Finally, the sound of steel scraping across the trunk broke the silence as Melissa pulled out a three-foot sword. Dess stared in awe as Melissa wrapped it in a large scrap of velvet.

"The school's about a mile back," Melissa said, closing the trunk. "And it's fucking humid. You might want to lose the coat, or else you'll die."

Dess nodded and took off her favorite coat. She also reached down and unzipped the legs of her cargo pants so that they were now extremely short shorts. She knew what it was like to hike in pants, and it was not fun.

As she walked around the car, Dess saw Melissa's gaze travel slowly up and down her body. Blushing, she motioned for Melissa to follow.

"Any particular reason you decided to go all 'Resident Evil' on me?" Melissa asked, referring to the short shorts, knee-high combat boots, and tight white spaghetti strapped shirt. "You really have changed a lot, you know."

"Thanks," Dess said. "We should get going."

They started down the road, keeping their ears open for any sound of a branch breaking or soft snarl in the darkness. They were about half a mile from the car when they finally heard something other than their footsteps.

The bushes in front of them were shaking, as if something were trying to disentangle itself from them. Dess and Melissa pulled their weapons out, ready for the attack.

"It doesn't have a name," Melissa whispered, referring to the sword.

"Conscientious Disappearance Decompression," Dess replied. She then raised her steel pipe to her lips and whispered, "Decaffeinated Deliciousness Rubbernecking."

Suddenly, silently, a figure stepped from the shadows, its arms raised in surrender. Dess couldn't help but gasp as she recognized who it was. Turning to Melissa, she smiled and said, "I told you so!"

Melissa hissed. Staring at Tallyn, she began to shake. "You fucking idiot, he's not a Seer!"

"Excuse me?" Dess asked, confused.

"He's a Mindcaster," Melissa said. She hadn't taken her eyes off of Tallyn, who hadn't moved since he had come into their sights. "He's…like me…"

Suddenly, Melissa collapsed onto the pavement, shaking and crying. Dess dropped to her knees, skinning them on the black road. She pulled Melissa's head onto her lap and began stroking her hair and face.

"What's wrong with her," Tallyn asked, sitting on the ground, too. "Does this happen a lot?"

Dess shook her head. Whatever was going on with the Bitch Goddess, they would have to wait to find out what it was.

o.0

**A note from your wonderful author: **

**Thanks to all who have read and reviewed. It really means a lot to me. But, I'm sorry to say, this story is going on hiatus, so that I may pick up on one of my others. I promise to continue as soon as I can.**

**Pickles,**

**--Phaith**


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